“I would kindly request the following information regarding unlicensed pirate radio stations
broadcasting in the Bristol and West of England areas from January 2013 until January 2015
under the freedom of information act.”

We have therefore covered Bristol and the counties of Gloucestershire, Somerset,
Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon and Cornwall. If this assumption is incorrect, kindly let us know.

1. How many prosecutions against individuals have taken place between the specified
dates?

One.

2. Out of the number of persons identified, how many have had multiple prosecutions?

None.

3. Please list the names of all the unlicensed broadcast stations you know of and the
number of times enforcement action has been carried against each of them, including
where no action was taken (e.g the radio station left the air of it's own accord before
any action could be taken) clearly showing the method of enforcement used (ie: studio
raid, main transmitter removal, mobile telephones disconnected, website domain name
blocking etc).

Three operations have been conducted against an illegal broadcast station operating on
100.6 in Taunton.; one in 2013 and two in 2014.

Section 44 of the Act prevents organisations releasing information if another Act has said
that it shouldn’t, such as the Communications Act 2003, or the Wireless Telegraphy Act
2006.

This information is being withheld under Section 44 of the Act, in line with Section 38 (2) (c)
(i)of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006. That is because releasing details about the stations,
such as names or frequencies, could be seen to be facilitating their day-to-day operations.

Any enforcement action that may or may not have been taken against pirate radio broadcast
stations is being withheld under Section 31 of the Act. The release of this information to the
general public may prejudice Ofcom’s ability to perform its ongoing regulatory functions, with
the following purposes:

(a) the purpose of ascertaining whether any person has failed to comply with the law,
(b) the purpose of ascertaining whether any person is responsible for any conduct which is
improper,
(c) the purpose of ascertaining whether circumstances which would justify regulatory action
in pursuance of any enactment exist or may arise,

4. How many enforcement visits have been as a result from information supplied from
members of the public or licence paying broadcasters.

None.

5. Please supply a breakdown of costs for each case of enforcement action carried out.

2 of 3

This information is not held. Please give details of any complaints or allegations made
against Ofcom's staff in the enforcement section.

- We can neither confirm nor deny whether we hold the information you requested, as to
provide such information would fall under the exemption in section 40 of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. This exemption protects personal information from being released to
the public and removes the need to confirm or deny that information is held. Further
information on Section 40 can be found here:

6.Out of the unlicensed broadcast stations identified, if any have not had enforcement action
against them please supply information as to why it hasn't taken place.

None

7. How many reports of interference to safety of life services or aviation have been reported
in Bristol and West of England between the dates stated above, if any please state which
authority reported it and if the interference was proven to be attributed to pirate radio?

None.

8. How many reports of interference to safety of life services or aviation have been reported
in Bristol and West of England between the dates stated above, if any please state which
authority reported it and if the interference was proven to be atributed to pirate radio?

What is weird is that I expected there to be another transmitter taken from Bristol to be mentioned here, but it might've left the air of it's own accord when it's counterpart in Cardiff was taken off (the one action taken by Ofcom in Cardiff since 2007, or Killer?) Whoever took it off in Cardiff left the aerial behind though, it's now on Googlemaps streetview

bristolpirates wrote:What is weird is that I expected there to be another transmitter taken from Bristol to be mentioned here, but it might've left the air of it's own accord when it's counterpart in Cardiff was taken off

Would be interesting to see this info for Manchester. Remember something funny happened up here last year, sounded like someone was trying to start some kind of networked pirate. Huge signal, lasted a week, and disappeared. It spooked (local, established pirate) Mixology off air and they never came back.

bristolpirates wrote:What is weird is that I expected there to be another transmitter taken from Bristol to be mentioned here, but it might've left the air of it's own accord when it's counterpart in Cardiff was taken off

Would be interesting to see this info for Manchester. Remember something funny happened up here last year, sounded like someone was trying to start some kind of networked pirate. Huge signal, lasted a week, and disappeared. It spooked (local, established pirate) Mixology off air and they never came back.

Yep, that's the same thing that was on in Bristol and Cardiff. I confirmed it with somebody back on the old board via PM cause they mentioned something similar to what was on in Bristol had appeared in Manchester. Can't remember who I was chatting to about it, might have been you?

bristolpirates wrote:Can't remember who I was chatting to about it, might have been you?

Yes it was me. I'm still none the wiser but I believe someone from Mixology tracked it down to a block closer in to the town centre from their site. Nothing of note has happened pirate-wise since then, apart one small station in the inner suburbs. It's very quiet up here!

bristolpirates wrote:Can't remember who I was chatting to about it, might have been you?

Yes it was me. I'm still none the wiser but I believe someone from Mixology tracked it down to a block closer in to the town centre from their site. Nothing of note has happened pirate-wise since then, apart one small station in the inner suburbs. It's very quiet up here!

I'm just glad there's still a little bit of activity in the West country if not in Bristol.